Summaries
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Summaries Pictures |
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Day 1 ~ Monday, June 30, 2003 Well, we have made it through day 1. We hiked more than 8 beautiful miles and are now camped next to a loud, gorgeous waterfall. It's only 7:30, but we're in our sleeping bags because it's so cold. The place we had planned to camp was toward the bottom of the falls, but there was too much spray there, and Ben failed to pack the rain fly when he gave Anne the tent. We ended up moving the tent to the top of the falls, where there is a huge flat rock with dried moss and little saplings and flowers on top of it. It's very cool - it almost looks like a big slab of cement because it's so flat. We hiked through "Mosquito Land" today - a marshy area with high vegetation. It's fairly dry here though, so the mosquitoes weren't nearly as bad as last time. There are still a lot, though, so we slapped on lots of repellent several times today. It's amazing how much both Anne and I remember after 5 whole years. All day we said things like "this is where we stopped for lunch last time, isn't it?" and "Isn't this were we put on ponchos last time 'cause the bugs were so bad?" The first 2 or 3 miles has been cleared of brush lately. In fact, we passed some guys from the forest service and even more from the Northwest Youth Corps who were working away. The vegetation farther up made me really appreciate the work they did below. Anne and I are both tired, but not "dead tired" like we were last time. We both definitely noticed the elevation, but not to the point at which we felt we might collapse. We crossed 2 bridges today - across Chiwaukum Creek and Glacier Creek. Tomorrow morning the first thing we'll do is re-cross Chiwaukum Creek. We found a "foot bridge" upstream from the falls so we won't have to ford it again (which is a good thing - it looks much deeper than our pictures show). The problem with the footbridge (2 fallen logs bolted together) is that one log is a bit cracked right in the center. It looks sturdy enough. Anne walked/scooted across today and back safely, but we're still gonna go across that part with our butts on the sturdy log and feet on the broken one. Don't worry, I took pictures. After that we'll climb 2 1/2 miles straight up the mountain to Chiwaukum Lake. I can't wait to see it! Day 2 ~ Tuesday, July 1, 2003 So, we made it to the lake in 2 hours 45 minutes - much better than the 4 hours it took us last time. The first good campsite we found wasn't quite as good as we first thought. After hearing a tree fall yesterday in the wind, we decided that there were just too many widow-maker- like trees in that area. We moved to a sunnier spot and took a nap on our sleeping pads. It's pretty cold here with the wind blowing off the snow and water. Anne and I are both fairly sore. We woke up stiff from yesterday. The log crossing went well. I lost a piece of paper or something from my pocket, and Anne had to help me stand up 'cause my bag was top-heavy, but nothing else went wrong. We climbed slowly, but steadily - only taking one break where we actually sat down to rest. Later on, after our nap, we walked around the lake for a while. It took a bit for Anne to convince me to actually get up, but I'm glad we did. We walked across the inlet stream on a log and then over moss and snow patches along the opposite shore. We got about 2/3 of the way to Honour Lake before turning around. Anne slipped and fell on her hip on her way back. It was sore before, the extra bruise doesn't quite help. Don't worry - I'll give her pain killers in the morning. We've been hanging our food at night so the bears can't get it. The ranger in Leavenworth told us of a honey-colored brown bear that has been sighted up here. "Don't worry - it's not a grizzly," she said. It was difficult finding a limb to hang it on since all the lower limbs are dead or fallen off. Anyway, we've been joking about Honey the bear. Anne says she's gonna cover me with peanut butter and wait for Honey to come lick it off. We aren't alone on the lake. A guy walked by today on his way to catch some cutthroat. He asked us if we were up here yesterday morning when it rained. We said "no" and counted our blessings. However, Anne and I have both said the "c" and "r" words and it's looking like we may be punished for it. As it got dark, grey clouds came in. I found a tarp hidden in a hole at the base of a tree while we were searching for good food-hanging branches. Once we got it securely over the tent, Anne was like "Thank you, God, now we know it's gonna rain." While eating dinner today, Anne asked me, "So, do you miss Randy?" "Yeah." "I miss Ben too. This is the longest we've ever been apart." Yeah, things have changed these past 5 years. One side note: if I can help it, I'm never hiking without trekking poles ever, ever again. They rock. Day 3 ~ Wednesday, July 2, 2003 Wow, God really watches out for us. Today we decided to go on over to Honour and Jason Lakes. We figured since it was a nice day we'd go to the place we've never been - just in case the weather turns sour tomorrow. We got up late - the wind blew cold this morning, so we didn't want to get out of our warm sleeping bags. We started out at about noon, and it took us a full hour to bushwhack our way to Honour Lake, even though it's only a mile or so from the campsite. Once there, we took pictures and made our way up and over rock cliffs, then down and across a HUGE rockslide. You woulda been proud - I didn't even panic (completely). After the rockslide, we got to the inlet to Honour Lake. Just upstream the creek comes cascading down the mountain in a series of waterfalls. Yep, that was the ridge we had to climb - the one that water couldn't seem to cling to. We started up in a round-about way, climbing the much shorter ridge and winding around. It was actually hot up there in the sun. There was one point on the way up when I got pretty scared. We were walking along the side of the ridge on a log. The ground on the uphill side was too unstable for a trekking pole, and the downhill side was a 5 foot drop to the ground (and God knows how long it would be until I hit a tree on the way down). Anyway, I ended up crawling along the log on my hands and knees. I got to a point where the downed log was up against a tree and I clung to it for dear life as I stood up. Finally across, Anne said, "You really don't like crossing logs, do you?" Anne and I are opposites in a lot of ways when picking our way through the woods. She likes to walk over snow banks and logs. As for me, while I don't terribly mind them, if it looks the least bit unstable, I'll try to go around. As you might have guessed, she's a lot quicker than me cross country and down hills. I'm quicker sometimes going uphill on trails. So back to today, we finally made it up the ridge. Just over the top is Lower Jason Lake. The terrain we found was marshy mostly, but sometimes rocky and brushy. Waterfalls are everywhere around those lakes. Just below Lower Jason Lake we found that the falls start only 20 feet or so from the lake. From there we walked over soft, mushy ground to the Middle Jason Lake, seeing a few falls on the way. This lake is smaller than the first, but has a more dramatic backdrop. It nestles fairly close to the 7200 ft rock which stands high above Chiwaukum Lake. Upper Jason Lake is pretty close to the middle lake. As we got closer we heard the roar of a big waterfall. The inlet stream to this lake literally cascades down the opposite ridge. This is the largest of the Jason Lakes, and here we stopped to eat bagels. By that time it was 4:30 or so and we decided it was time to start down. Past Lower Jason Lake we faced the daunting task of climbing back down the steep ridge. We found an animal trail which carried us pretty close to the falls. The ground was covered in brush at first, but then changed to trees, fallout, pine needles, and rocks. We clung to our trekking poles and the rocks and trees for dear life. If one of us were to lose control, it would be very possible that we wouldn't be able to gain it back again until it was too late. Then Anne did it. Just as she shifted her weight from one foot to another, she slid on the loose dirt and pine needles more than 5 feet before finally stopping herself on a rock - the last rock before an even steeper drop. We were both scared half to death. Needless to say, we picked our way through there even more slowly after that. A rockslide greeted us further down, then more brush and moss before we got off that ridge. The whole time I held back tears and panic. We had to get back before nightfall, and that's what kept me going. Anne was scared too - not to mention in pain. She has bruises all over her legs now. It looks like I beat her up good with my trekking poles. Ben's probably gonna kill me when we get back. We took the other way around Honour Lake this time, which turned out to be better, and we made it back to our campsite with no other death-defying feats. We heard and saw an owl along Chiwaukum Lake, but it didn't seem to want its picture taken. Well, the flashlight is now warmer than my hands. Maybe that's a sign that it's time to go to sleep... Day 4 ~ Thursday, July 3, 2003 This morning we watched a beaver swim across the lake in front of the campsite. Anne and I got out of the tent around 10 AM, and then lay in the sun on a rock to warm ourselves. At around 1:00 we got ourselves up rather slowly. Anne's all bruised up and I'm sore from the 7 hours we spent bushwhacking yesterday. One the way up to Larch Lake we actually kept on the trail pretty well, unlike last time. Ewing Basin has got to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. It's surrounded by cliffs on 3 sides, and winds around from Chiwaukum Lake in a hook shape. Water cascades into the basin from snowfields that almost never melt out. Flowers and struggling trees line the valley floor along the creeks and rockslides. The wind gets pretty strong up there as it whips up the valley and back down again. We felt some strong gusts, probably around 40 MPH. Larch Lake was beautiful, yet cold as always. We decided we were too sore and the wind and snow were too much to get us up to Cup Lake and back safely, so we didn't go. When we stopped for a snack we watched 3 chipmunks scurry around the rocks and across the grass. On our way back we remembered to try the cell phones. I stood up on a rock and held the phone up high to send text messages to Ben and my parents. Anne's phone didn't quite get good enough reception to work. Ben called my cell and I brought it down to my ear to answer. That foot and a half drop caused us to lose the call. I grabbed Anne and helped her up onto the rock. She helped me hold my arm as he called back. I turned on the speaker phone and her and Ben talked for a few minutes. Then I called and left Randy a message 'cause he was at work. Further down the mountain Anne shouted, "I see a bear!" I didn't know where or how close so I rushed to her, grabbing my camera. It was a baby, on the opposite side of the basin. I got a picture, but I'm not sure if it'll turn out. The rest of the way back we made noise, sang "Down from the Mountain" (our classic hiking song), and kept eyes open in case there were any closer bears. Back at camp we noticed clouds and wind coming in, so we spent a while securing the tarp in case the skies break forth tonight. Hopefully we'll stay dry... Day 5 ~ Friday, July 4, 2003 (I'm writing this on my birthday, July 5th, back at my parent's house.) Yesterday we hiked... a lot. We got up early, about 7:00. As we ate breakfast, we watched the beaver swim across the lake again, then disappear as he dived under, looking for fish. We packed up our stuff and returned the tarp we found with a dated thank you note, just in case the one who left it comes back for it. It wasn't until 9:20 that we said goodbye to our campsite and hiked out. We walked slowly up and out of the Chiwaukum Lake area and slowly down the steep mountain. It wasn't long before each step hurt. My toes ground against the front of my boots. After Mosquito Land, we crossed the footbridge across Chiwaukum Creek and stopped to apply moleskin, cut toenails in a feeble attempt to keep toes from hurting, and ate a quick lunch. Tiny beetles flew all around us, landing on our skin and in our hair. It was about this time that we started passing people on their way up for the 4th of July weekend. We saw probably about 15 people, not including the Northwest Youth Corps group that was still up there, several miles past the point we found them at on our way up. We met up with a few forest rangers who checked our Alpine Lakes Wilderness permit (something I've never had done before), and told us about the "Scoop on Poop" - how we should use the available toilets when we could. They asked us how the toilet was at Chiwaukum Lake. We told them it was "rickety". They told us about how they find people poop that hasn't been buried well and how they have to bury it. Ewww...it sounds not quite like the job I'd want. At that point the rangers told us we had a little over 3 miles left till the trailhead, plus the mile and a half along a private road to the car. Those last 5 miles were killer. They went slowly. At one point, after taking a short break, Anne was like, "Alicia, stop. Tip your head forward." She flicked something off. I asked her what it was and she told me I didn't want to know. I begged, and she finally said, "It was a bee". Yeah, I hate bees...she was right, I didn't want to know. After what seemed like forever, nearly 12 miles from Chiwaukum Lake, we found my car. In Leavenworth, we kept to tradition and bought McDonald's. Back at home, my parents had invited a bunch of family over for a barbeque for the holiday. Anne and I told the stories of our bear and her slide down the cliff. Today, one day later, we are still hobbling like old grandmas every time we get up. Anne could hardly get out of bed this morning, and we both have a limp. There is a beauty to it though -- geez, after 35 miles without having adequately prepared for the trip we'd better be sore. It was definitely worth it. More Journals | Hike Summaries | Pictures
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